# No, you don't remember when a hashtag was called a pound sign. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448 "2014-06-23T14:55:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/21 "2014-06-23T17:24:16Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > likewise with having a phone ring. Are you saying phones are silent now? A “ringing” sound isn’t just a sound produced by bells, it’s any loud noise and, AFAIK, always has been. > [@Doug\_K](#): > > Yes, I know how language works. I also know that the pound sign did not become known as a hashtag. #thisisahashtag is a hashtag. # is not. You’re wrong. Twitter themselves refer to the symbol as a “hashtag.” The word/phrase after it is known as a “keyword.” People conflated the two, which makes your reading technically wrong (even though it’s not, because of how language works). [https://support.twitter.com/articles/49309-using-hashtags-on-twitter](https://support.twitter.com/articles/49309-using-hashtags-on-twitter) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/22 "2014-06-23T17:26:38Z")
Don’t get me started on #hotwaterheater ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/23 "2014-06-23T18:01:16Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > likewise with having a phone ring. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Are you saying phones are silent now? A “ringing” sound isn’t just a sound produced by bells, it’s any loud noise and, AFAIK, always has been. phones might be silent or they might have some form of annunciator. a buzz is not a ring. Big Ben on my tape recorder is a recording of a bell ringing, my tape recorder doesn’t ring. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/24 "2014-06-23T18:07:16Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > #thisisahashtag is a hashtag. # is not. This was exactly what I thought of when reading the subject line. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/25 "2014-06-23T18:09:57Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > phones might be silent or they might have some form of annunciator. a buzz is not a ring. Big Ben on my tape recorder is a recording of a bell ringing, my tape recorder doesn’t ring. Ring 1. make a clear resonant or _ **vibrating** _ sound. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/26 "2014-06-23T18:39:49Z")
I’m not a fan of calling # hashtag, but as others have said, I think that ship has sailed and it’s not a hill worth dying on. That said I think there are perhaps some changes in language worth fighting, because I feel like some changes hurt our ability to communicate, where ones like hashtag are, at worst, neutral. For instance, I hate the use of “literally” when someone really means it as an intensifier because the word “literally” has a distinct and useful meaning that is diluted and makes communicating that concept more difficult. Someone uses it in a context where it’s not completely clear if it’s being used to mean that their idiom or apparent exaggeration is, in fact, meant to be taken literally, or they just really wanted to intensify it. I’ve actually had to ask “Literally literally or figuratively literally?” and I feel like the conversation has devolved into nonsense. So, I will fight that usage 'til the day I die. So, again, while I’m not a fan of that usage, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone say “hashtag” out of the context of social media. Even if I did, it’s just yet another name for the symbol outside of the social media context, so I still understand what they mean. I don’t think you’re going to get a whole lot of responses from people who feel as strongly as you do. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/27 "2014-06-23T18:43:08Z")
It is a hash. If it is used to tag a word it is a hashtag. It is also a dollar sign. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/28 "2014-06-23T18:44:44Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > “Grandma, why do they show televisions taking a while to stop being blurry or scrambled?” So, you haven’t bought a new television lately, huh? I can remember when televisions took a while to “warm up”, but I can also remember, not so long ago, when, if you pressed the button to change channels, the new channel would come on pretty much instantly. Now, not so much. Both the TV as a whole, when you first switch it on, and each channel each time you switch to it, takes several seconds to “boot”. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/29 "2014-06-23T18:46:24Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > It is a hash. If it is used to tag a word it is a hashtag. It is also a dollar sign. As in, “That’ll be #2.98, please.” ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/30 "2014-06-23T19:02:05Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Don’t get me started on #hotwaterheater or #ATMMachine ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/31 "2014-06-23T20:15:27Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > It is also a dollar sign. In what currency? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/32 "2014-06-23T20:42:03Z")
So — That’s what a “hashtag” is! ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/33 "2014-06-23T20:54:51Z")
I would say that #followedbysomewords is a hashtag, while the symbol used to convert the words into a hashtag is called a hash symbol. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_symbol) seems to agree: “Outside of North America the symbol is called hash and the corresponding telephone key is called the ‘hash key’”. Any Outside-of-North-Americans want to weigh in? If it is commonly called a hash and not a hashtag outside North America, I would think that the ship has not yet sailed. I also think “octothorp” has a better ring to it and we should use it on all occasions. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/34 "2014-06-23T21:04:08Z")
> [@Wednesday\_Evening](#): > > I would say that #followedbysomewords is a hashtag, while the symbol used to convert the words into a hashtag is called a hash symbol. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_symbol) seems to agree: “Outside of North America the symbol is called hash and the corresponding telephone key is called the ‘hash key’”. Any Outside-of-North-Americans want to weigh in? If it is commonly called a hash and not a hashtag outside North America, I would think that the ship has not yet sailed. > > I also think “octothorp” has a better ring to it and we should use it on all occasions. 😃 #mom, then. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/35 "2014-06-23T21:58:01Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > … #thisisahashtag is a hashtag. # is not. “Pound thisisahashtag is a hashtag. Pound _Sign_ is not.” ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/36 "2014-06-23T22:06:00Z")
Obviously the OP never used a phone tree in the 70’s or 80’s! “If you’d like to leave your phone number, press the pound sign!” But that’s almost the same as “It was never called a pound sign”. Sorta? Kinda? Nearly? Almost? In the right light? On the tagged fringes of? …never mind! ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/37 "2014-06-23T23:50:52Z")
So we’re all just going to ignore that Twitter itself considers the # to be the hashtag? I’ll post the link again: > **[How to use hashtags](https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/how-to-use-hashtags)** > > Get an overview on hashtags, including best practice tips. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/38 "2014-06-24T00:33:31Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Ring > > 1. make a clear resonant or _ **vibrating** _ sound. My phone vibrates. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/39 "2014-06-24T01:01:57Z")
Man, I’m waging the war against forward slashes being called “backslashes” in URLs. (Heard it _again_ on the radio today. Seriously, what the fuck? What are we all still using DOS, where most normal people would have ever had use for a backslash. When has a backslash _ever_ been used in a URL? Is it even a legal character?) I have years to go before I catch up to “hashtag” meaning the hash symbol (although I’ll grant that one) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448/40 "2014-06-24T01:15:18Z")
The guy who woke up from a coma from the 1980’s says: “Why do they want me to pound all these people? Most of them aren’t even attractive!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-dont-remember-when-a-hashtag-was-called-a-pound-sign/691448.md?page=3)